Another lovely post by my favorite Guest Author who also happens to be my ex-manager and a good friend. In this post he talks about how one can never be ‘bored’ if he finds enough interesting things to do. The challenge is in breaking away from all the useless clutter and distractions that we have today and find something interesting enough. Read on.
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When I look back at my life & career, the stupidest things that I have done were when I was bored. Changing jobs when I should have stuck on, calling someone I shouldn’t have, buying things that I didn’t need, fiddling with the remote instead of leaving it alone – the list is endless. In my case, truly, an idle mind has been a devil’s workshop.
On one hand we have several things to distract us – the social network, reality shows in TV, our smart phones with lot of fancy apps but on the other hand, these things don’t provide us the intellectual rigor to keep our minds and skills usefully engaged. There is something in the human gene that craves for excitement. Gone are the days when people’s hobbies were reading, stamp collecting, singing or dancing. Today we want to be seen doing stuff that others look upto. Look at the hobbies/passions that folks mention in their profiles and you will get what I am saying.
All parents cherish the ordinary, boring, predictable routines. The kid feeds on time, poops on time and the school van comes on time. These things make a parent’s day feel fulfilling. All of us need excitement in life. But, it should be a like spices in the kitchen. A pinch of it is good enough for a tasty and enjoyable meal.
My previous boss advised me to take up a role that has a 90% – boring 10% – exciting mix. The 90% ‘boring’ component is the cash-cow that pulls in the revenue & justification for having me on the payroll. The 10% ‘exciting’ component is what I love to do that I try doing within the contours of my job in Cognizant. It is working so far.
Being professional is not about having a B School education or wearing a suit. It is about doing a good job whether we like it or not.
My driver is my inspiration. While he waits for us in the car, he reads newspapers & magazines from cover to cover and is well aware of all the happenings in the city. I fail to do that despite my expensive Magzter subscriptions.
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I especially love the part where he says that being professional is about doing a good job irrespective of whether we actually like what we are doing or not, and that is a motto that I have lived with all my working life. I would really love to hear your thoughts on what ‘interesting’ things you do on a daily basis and how you manage to balance that with the regular monotony of daily life.
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Verses for Introspection: 8
वदन्ति तत्तत्त्वविदस्तत्त्वं यज्ञ्ज्ञानमद्वयं ।
ब्रह्मॆति परमात्मॆति भगवानिति शब्द्यतॆ ।।
vadanti tat-tattvavidas-tattvam yad-jnaanam-advayam
brahmeti paramaatmeti bhagavaan-iti shabdyate
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11
Meaning:
The knowers of Truth speak about ‘that’ which is the knowledge of the non-dual consciousness also known as Brahman- the supreme reality, Paramaatma-the supreme self and Bhagavan, the supreme Lord.
Inspired by Swami Bhoomananda TirthaJi’s talks and satsangs.
